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kbz_22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I just finished "A Natural History of Dragons" by Marie Brennan, and I couldn't wait to tell you about it. It's seriously a gem.
This book was like a nostalgia trip for me. It reached into my childhood dreams/fantasies and brought them to life. It's magical in that way.
The characters, especially Lady Trent, just got me right in the feels. Through her, I got to live this life of adventure, curiosity, and pure intellectual passion. She's witty, determined, and her thirst for knowledge is something I really admired.
But here's the coolest part - the format of the book. It's like reading a personal journal mixed with a textbook, and it even has these charming illustrations and chapter overviews. You feel like you're right there with Lady Trent on her scientific quests.
Marie Brennan's storytelling is top-notch. I couldn't put it down, seriously. It's not just a book; it's this incredible journey into a world of wonder and discovery. If you ever want to rekindle that sense of awe and adventure, this one's a must-read.
This book was like a nostalgia trip for me. It reached into my childhood dreams/fantasies and brought them to life. It's magical in that way.
The characters, especially Lady Trent, just got me right in the feels. Through her, I got to live this life of adventure, curiosity, and pure intellectual passion. She's witty, determined, and her thirst for knowledge is something I really admired.
But here's the coolest part - the format of the book. It's like reading a personal journal mixed with a textbook, and it even has these charming illustrations and chapter overviews. You feel like you're right there with Lady Trent on her scientific quests.
Marie Brennan's storytelling is top-notch. I couldn't put it down, seriously. It's not just a book; it's this incredible journey into a world of wonder and discovery. If you ever want to rekindle that sense of awe and adventure, this one's a must-read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Murder, and Classism
readandfindout's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
4.0
Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, and Classism
Minor: Pregnancy
madzie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Brennan mashes the voices of early English women writers like Austen and the Brontes with scientific notes and realistic fantasy. She excels at worldbuilding and seamlessly fits dragons into Victorian Europe. Her world of dragons is sensical and easy to follow. The dragons feel very real, and you can imagine being a part of this world. However, while Brennan thrives in her exploration of dragons, she leaves me questioning other parts of her world and how it differs from our own historical one. Often, Brennan's exploration of sexism is intriguing, as it is central to the story, but falls short, not incorporating the entire picture, even illustrating that women can only be strong if they show masculine traits, which seems to go against the same theme she is attempting to portray. Other themes follow suit, often making a good attempt at deep ideas but leaving me with questions about the whole picture, especially from a historical perspective.
However, Brennan creates a nicely written plot with a good twist at the end. Throughout, I got bored with the lack of details. Although seemingly purposeful due to attempting to draw in scientific writing, it leaves me again wanting more and never really feeling like part of the story. Perhaps more of a success is her incorporation of Victorian writing, which echoes history while still being accessible to modern audiences, as well as less pretentious. Occasionally, I felt the sentence variety was lacking, especially in action scenes. Lady Trent herself is an intriguing character, who did leave me feeling for her by the end of the novel. Overall, I felt like the book stayed in the middle ground, perhaps rising above for other readers, especially those more interested in scientific explanations and writings over story flow and details.
However, Brennan creates a nicely written plot with a good twist at the end. Throughout, I got bored with the lack of details. Although seemingly purposeful due to attempting to draw in scientific writing, it leaves me again wanting more and never really feeling like part of the story. Perhaps more of a success is her incorporation of Victorian writing, which echoes history while still being accessible to modern audiences, as well as less pretentious. Occasionally, I felt the sentence variety was lacking, especially in action scenes. Lady Trent herself is an intriguing character, who did leave me feeling for her by the end of the novel. Overall, I felt like the book stayed in the middle ground, perhaps rising above for other readers, especially those more interested in scientific explanations and writings over story flow and details.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Classism
ophycore's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
kalira's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Racism and Religious bigotry
squinnittowinit's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I love any world that has dragons in it, but I didn't enjoy how Victorian all the main characters were. I know, that's how it was meant to be, but I found all the misogyny and xenophobia left a bad taste in my mouth.
It's written as a memoir, so the fictional author as the narrator is writing about a time in the far past, and she does say that she finds some of the sexism to be ridiculous now, but she still makes weird "men vs women" statements that just reinforce harmful gender stereotypes.
She also read as very Victorian British, in that she was a noble from a colonizing nationon a journey to a colonized nation, full of privilege and perceived superiority. She freely insults the local people and culture and looks down on them for having less than her, and in the end, has barely any more appreciation for them when she leaves. This book felt written from the perspective of a colonizer with the assumption that colonizer cultures are better than others and everyone should aspire to be like them.
She's also very callous about killing dragons for science, which I didn't appreciate, as someone who respects nature and living things.
Still, I enjoyed the dragons and I enjoyed the mystery plot. I just wish it had more modern values.
It's written as a memoir, so the fictional author as the narrator is writing about a time in the far past, and she does say that she finds some of the sexism to be ridiculous now, but she still makes weird "men vs women" statements that just reinforce harmful gender stereotypes.
She also read as very Victorian British, in that she was a noble from a colonizing nation
Still, I enjoyed the dragons and I enjoyed the mystery plot. I just wish it had more modern values.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Colonisation
sevensableyes's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Love, love, love.
I knew when I first heard the premise of this series, that I would adore it. And I do. Isabella is fast becoming one of my favourite protagonists, along side Keladry (Protector of the Small series). This book made me feel very nostalgic for my dragon/dinosaurs phase. Isabella's passion is infectious.
The worldbuilding feels very natural, and is fairly easy to keep up with. I think it's because the world will slowly unravel throughout the books, following Isabella's adventures into different parts of the world. I really like how there is no magic system; it's just dragons. It makes them feel like real and vulnerable animals. I'm looking forward to seeing more species.
I loved all of the characters. I liked thatJacob was a good husband; it would have been very easy to write him as dismissive of Isabella's passions, but he was truly lovely . I'm fairly certain Isabella and Mr Wilker will become closer in the future (not romantically) .
This book ticked all the boxes for me, and hopefully the rest of the series does too.
I knew when I first heard the premise of this series, that I would adore it. And I do. Isabella is fast becoming one of my favourite protagonists, along side Keladry (Protector of the Small series). This book made me feel very nostalgic for my dragon/dinosaurs phase. Isabella's passion is infectious.
The worldbuilding feels very natural, and is fairly easy to keep up with. I think it's because the world will slowly unravel throughout the books, following Isabella's adventures into different parts of the world. I really like how there is no magic system; it's just dragons. It makes them feel like real and vulnerable animals. I'm looking forward to seeing more species.
I loved all of the characters. I liked that
This book ticked all the boxes for me, and hopefully the rest of the series does too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Pregnancy
Regarding the kidnapping,micallab's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Miscarriage
featherinthewind's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A magnificent read about dragons and history that had an underlying note of love. I really did enjoy this book but boy was I not expecting that ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
mileskayden's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I loved the first 1/3 of this, if anything it was more the pace of the book that created a falling out of love and into a like sort of vibe. I was so excited for dragon anatomy and really, we didn't learn all that much about any dragon's. Only a single breed was the main focus of this story, and if anything it took a back seat and that was a disappointment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, and Murder